Contemporary and future aerospace vehicle requirements continue to provide challenges to the structural designer for reducing structural weight. In the interest of fuel economy, a premium is placed on structural weight in the design aircraft. Similarly, the anticipated needs for very large area space sructures will tax the load carrying capability of any conceivable booster system. Relative recent advances in filamentary composite materials have provided the structural design improvements of a factor of two to four in strength-to-density ratios and a factor of three to eight in modulus-to-density ratios when compared with the normally used metal structures. To fully exploit this potential, structural designs must be developed wherein the unidirectional nature of the advanced composite materials is considered from the outset.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved lightweight structural panel.
Another object of the present invention is the provision of a novel panel construction.
A further object of the present invention is the provision of a lattice type structural panel wherein the unidirectional characteristics of filamentary compositions are exploited.
An additional object of the present invention is the provisions of composite material panel structure wherein the geometry of the panel lattice network is tailored to provide the appropriate stiffness and loading requirements.
A further object of the present invention is a novel method of making a composite lattice panel structure.